Taming of the Shrubs

You know you're in your 30s when you are at a friend's birthday party and someone mentions that mulch is on sale at Home Depot for $2 a bag, and EVERYONE starts raving about the good deal. But let's face it, springtime has a lot to do with mulch around here.

In fact, I think most of our free time in April and May has been getting our yard in order.

Fence
Our fence was thrown together in sections over the years. The back section was completely rotten and needed to be replaced. We are so thankful that three guys spent quite a few hours putting up this one. It really cleans up the yard.

We also took out a vegetable garden that was up against the fence. I tried being super resourceful, but I didn't even have a hose that reached back there to water it. It was just a mess of weeds, so it looks way better with grass all the way back to the new fence.

Swing Set

It is a huge blessing to have friends of all ages. I met my friend Becky when I was fundraising 10 years ago. Back then, she had three little kids, now the oldest is well into high school. One day we got to talking about swing sets and I asked if her kids still used theirs, hoping to buy it from them. But she and her husband graciously gave it to us. They even figured out how to haul it to our house.

Our kids and the girls next door absolutely love it. Everyday the kids swing for hours. Before the swing set we had a nice big back yard, but almost nothing to do back there. Boredom is solved with this guy.

Mulching

When we bought our house (in December, mind you) the sellers said, "Oh, and there are just perennials everywhere, so you get all these flowers and don't have to do a thing."

Lies. All lies.

Anyone reading this who isn't a homeowner, please beware of statements like this, and beware of any sort of complex landscaping that might come with a house. 

Perennials or not, gardens are crazy monstrosities that take a ton of maintenance. If I've learned anything about myself over the last few years, I am not a maintenance person. I want to do something and have it stay that way. But gardens get weedy. Really weedy.

But this year, I've been trying out some good old fashioned chemicals to kill and prevent weeds. I'm not of the organic way of life. So far there are fewer weeds, but if I've learned anything, it's that weeds are stinking powerful and they will still come up. 

But right now, they look alright. Mostly the hostas, because we mulched them last week. In the mean time I'm looking for a volunteer gardener who can deal with it. 

Screen Porch

Off of our dining room we have this great screen porch, but have rarely used it. I've had a little bistro table in there since our first summer here, but it has never been a very inviting place.

One day, Tim mentioned that he thought we should put some effort into the porch and get some new furniture for it. If it's Tim's idea to buy furniture and decorate, I move on it. And I'm even more enthusiastic about the endeavor.

Lucky for us a new store moved to town called At Home. It's kind of a cross between Ikea and HomeGoods. It's a big-boxy, warehouse-ish place with really good deals, and some of its stuff even veers from a neutral color palette. We spent the better part of a date night getting pillows and a chair at At Home, a bench at World Market, and more pillows at Gordmon's and Target. Tim got me the red end table for Mother's Day.

Oh, and look at my fern. It's still alive. So is my jade plant. I am bound and determined to keep these three plants alive. The garden center at Lowe's has taken so much of my money over the years because I think plants are so beautiful and great. But I am horrible at watering them and they always die. So this year, I bought three plants in hopes of keeping them alive, and then I might be able to invest in more next year.

Now the screen porch is one of my favorite places to be. I start my mornings with coffee and reading on the screen porch, and if I'm not too exhausted, I love sitting out there at night after the kids are in bed. I'm so glad Tim had the idea to improve it.